In "The Foundations of Mind," Jean Mandler describes how perceptual analysis provides a mechanism that allows infants to begin their journey into conceptual life, and subsequently to enter the advanced worlds of conceptual systems, memory, language, and consciousness. This review provides an overview of Mandler's theoretical position, celebrates…

The developmental psychology of mathematical thinking and the clinical interview method can make major contributions to education by transforming the process of formative assessment--the attempt to use information concerning student performance, knowledge, learning potential, and motivation to inform instruction. The clinical interview is a…

In Giyoo Hatano's passing, we have lost an esteemed colleague and a treasured friend. Among his many contributions to our field, our work, and our lives, we honor and build on his and his colleagues' work on conceptual growth. We liken the view developed by Hatano and his colleagues to Toulmin's evolutionary scheme for understanding conceptual…

Despite its considerable intellectual interest and great social relevance, religion has been neglected by contemporary developmental psychologists. But in the last few years, there has been an emerging body of research exploring children's grasp of certain universal religious ideas. Some recent findings suggest that two foundational aspects of…

This study examined 3- to 5-year-olds' (N = 128; 54% girls) ability to discriminate emotional fantasy and reality. Children viewed images depicting fantastic or real events that elicited several emotions, reported whether each event could occur, and rated their emotional reaction to the image. Children were also administered the Play Behavior…

Summarizes recent research which attempted to discover what children of different ages know about the appearance-reality distinction and related phenomena. Findings show that what helps children grasp the distinction is an increased cognizance of the fact that people are sentient subjects who have mental representations of objects and events. (PS)

Examines development of representational thought from the perspective of Jean Mandler's image-schema theory and an action-theoretical approach derived from Piaget's theory. Concludes that empirical findings fail to support hypotheses of early onset, and that representational development is more adequately interpreted within the context of an…

This paper provides for the elementary school teacher an introduction to the problem of mathematics readiness. The first part outlines the four developmental stages as seen by Piaget, and the manner in which schemata develop through the process of assimilation and accommodation. The second part consists of seven Piagetian tasks which a teacher may…

Test performance across age groups followed a highly significant linear trend. (Authors)

Several aspects of gender concept development were investigated in 60 children of mixed socioeconomic background ranging in age from three to six years. Tasks were designed to assess gender constancy, knowledge of sex-stereotypes, differential memory and preference for sex-typed material, and gender categorization. Cognitive maturity was assessed…

Reviews current research on (1) the factors that help development the individual's self-concept, and (2) the effects of self-concept on psychological and educational development. (VJ)

This book is a collection of the papers presented at the fifth International Interdisciplinary Conference on Piagetian Theory and the Helping Professions, held at the University of Southern California on January 24, 1975. The conference was sponsored by University Affiliated Program at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles; 44 papers are included.…

Extends William James' classification of phenomenalistic reality (PR) and analyzes PR using empirical data available in developmental psychology; focuses on the relation of PR to a human subject; to rational constructions; and to the idea of truth. Concludes that the development of phenomenalistic reality is qualitatively different from the…